Outstanding State PTA Advocacy Award
Oklahoma PTA
Oklahoma PTA’s 2022 legislative agenda had a strong focus on mental health, community gun safety and violence prevention. During their annual convention, held one week after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Oklahoma PTA passed an emergency resolution on Gun Safety and Violence Prevention, which allowed for collaboration with BeSMART, a program of Everytown for Gun Safety, to coordinate parent education workshops around secure gun storage. After reading their resolution on gun safety and violence prevention, state legislators contacted Oklahoma PTA to participate in an interim study on school safety, which received more than 1,000 responses from local parents. This data was then used by the Oklahoma State Department of Education Safety and Security Office as part of a $11 million grant for Oklahoma schools to use for safety, security and mental health.
About the Award
The Outstanding State PTA Advocacy of the Year Award is awarded annually to one State PTA that through their dedication, leadership & efforts positively affected legislative and/or regulatory policy aligned with National PTA’s public policy agenda.